After 10 months of contract negotiations, Battle Ground teachers voted overwhelmingly to ratify a contract agreement between the teachers union and the school district at a general membership meeting Monday night at Chief Umtuch Middle School. Of the 450 members who voted, 97.5 percent voted to ratify the contract.
“It’s very exciting,” said Battle Ground Education Association President Linda Peterson. “It was an awesome feeling to look out at all those members and have them share in the celebration of having finished a very long negotiation process and coming out of that with what they believe to be a good contract.”
The union’s bylaws require a simple majority to ratify a contract. The union represents about 825 teachers. About 54 percent of the members voted.
At the meeting, union leadership went through the contract page by page to show members what language had been changed, Peterson said. After a question-and-answer period, the floor was opened for debate, but there was none. The meeting concluded after 90 minutes.
Update: Battle Ground teachers contract
Previously: Battle Ground teachers’ contract agreement expired Aug. 31, 2015. The teachers union and the school district reached a tentative agreement March 16 after months of negotiations.
What’s new: The union voted to ratify the contract agreement at a general membership meeting Monday at Chief Umtuch Middle School.
What’s next: The school board will vote on the agreement at its March 28 general meeting.
“I was very hopeful it would pass,” Peterson said. “The district did come forward with a larger TRI package, and that made a huge difference.”
TRI pay is money paid to teachers for extra work they do planning lessons and grading papers outside of the regular school day.
The two year-contract is retroactive to Sept. 1, 2015. The former contract expired Aug. 31.
Details of the agreement will not be released until the school board votes on the agreement at its March 28 meeting. Last week, Superintendent Mark Hottowe said he will ask the board to approve the agreement.
The Battle Ground Education Association and Battle Ground Public Schools reached a tentative contract deal March 16 after 10 months of negotiations that included mediated bargaining sessions.
Although several school districts around the state are still negotiating teacher contracts with their unions, Battle Ground’s teachers were the last in Clark County working without a renewed contract, said Linda Mullen, spokeswoman for Washington Education Association.
“Our members are happy. They know they have a solid contract backing them,” Peterson said.
